Omniglot book store

Writing systems (General)

The World's Writing Systems

edited by Peter T. Daniels & William Bright

- the best reference book for writing systems on the market. Provides
detailed coverage of just about every writing system, with good quality
illustrations and text samples of most of them. Also includes information
on musical, mathematical and other notation systems.

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems

Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach

by Henry Rogers

- provides detailed coverage of all major writing systems of historical
or structural significance with thorough discussion of structure, history,
and social context as well as important theoretical issues. The book
examines systems as diverse as Chinese, Greek, and Maya and each writing
system is presented in the light of four major aspects of writing: history
and development; internal structure; the relationship of writing and language;
and sociolinguistic factors.

Writing Systems

Signs of Writing

by Roy Harris

- re-examines basic questions about writing that have long been obscured by
the traditional assumption that writing is merely a visual substitute for speech.
By treating writing as an independent mode of communication, based on the use
of spatial relations to connect events separated in time, the author shows how
musical, mathematical and other forms of writing obey the same principles as
verbal writing. These principles, he argues, apply to texts of all kinds: a
sonnet, a symphonic score, a signature on a cheque and a supermarket label.
Moreover, they apply throughout the history of writing, from hieroglyphics to
hypertext. This is the first book to provide a new general theory of writing
in over forty years.

The Story of Writing

Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts

by Andrew Robinson

- a richly illustrated book, which highlights the thrills of archeological
sleuthing, recounts the many attempts at understanding ancient civilizations
through the decipherment of their long-lost writing.

Asia's Orthographic Dilemma

by Wm. C Hannas

- provides an overview of how Chinese character-based scripts are or
were used to write Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese; the problems
involved in learning and using these scripts, and attempts to simplify
them. Hannas argues that these scripts are too complex, and that schemes
to simplify them, such as limiting the number of characters in use, end up making
them more complex. He concludes that ultimately they will most likely be
replaced by phonetic scripts.

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